Prehistoric Dogs of the Southwest

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2021: General Sessions" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

For over 15,000 years, dogs have been accorded varying social roles within human society. In view of this, the Canine Surrogacy Approach derives from observations that dogs often consume the same food as people and accompany humans during migration. Dogs are commonly granted similar burial customs, as well. I explore this proxy approach through the case study of a Georgetown-phase (A.D. 550-650) dog burial from Kipp Ruin, a Mimbres site in southern New Mexico. Analyses of stable isotopes shed light on the diets of both dogs and humans, and I will demonstrate their potential to identify mobility patterns as well. To further contextualize the life histories of dogs, I compare the frequency and circumstances of dog burials in the Southwest with ethnohistoric and ethnographic data from indigenous southwestern cultures.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)   •
• SAA 2021: General Sessions

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 33155